Like Father, Like Son...

John Fisken, a photographer from Oak Harbor Sports Report, sent me this picture today that he snapped of my boys at last night's wrestling meet. I think it is my new favorite of the two of them. I'll let the photo do the rest of the talking...

Another Letter...

This week Joshua earned another letter that he will wear proudly on his Letterman's jacket. However, this one was not for his prowess on the mat, but rather, a payoff for the hard work he has been doing in the classroom. Last year Joshua really got serious about his future as an architect, and turned it up in the classroom. To earn an academic letter you must have two consecutive semester's with a 3.5 or better. He did just that and more, and now he is continuing that success this year (and that's with three difficult AP classes).

And on the mat this season he is now 2-0! Last night's match is now archived at http://www.soundsportsnet.com/ (look for Mat cats chase away Mt. Vernon).  Next Thursday's meet is supposed to be live on the internet too. It's a double dual, so I believe it begins at 5:30 instead of 7:00.

Keep up the hard work Josh!

Holiday Blues...

No, I don't have the holiday blues; in fact, Christmas season is one of my favorite times of the year. However, not sure why, but I haven't been able to find the motivation to post lately. Not like I haven't had anything to post about. I guess at the end of the day when I plop sit down, I just can't find the energy. So after I catch you up to speed today, I am going to do my best to stay on top of things, despite the holiday hustle and bustle.

Speaking of holidays, here is my wonderful family patiently waiting for their long-awaited Turkey dinner. Aren't they the most precious group you've ever seen?

We did have a lot of fun family time and enjoyed a relaxing day. I did some cyber-shopping that night, and got a restful night's sleep!

The weekend of Thanksgiving we also got up our Christmas lights, but have slowly been adding more as our competitive nature comes out when the neighbors start decorating. This past weekend we put the tree up. If you followed the blog last year, you will remember the new tradition we were forced to begin when our favorite u-cut lot closed down. The up side to that is we were still able to get our tree on a blustery day without fighting the elements, as we were in and out in five minutes. And it all went for a great cause, helping an orphanage in Thailand! Kellen even joined us again, although he mainly handed out orders to his siblings rather than decorate the tree himself! As tradition calls, each child received an ornament representing something from this period of their life. Little did they know, but I had bought them all ornaments while we were at Disneyworld for Spring Break.  Kaia and Jaelyn got Princess ears, and the boys got Mickey. I had them personalized at Downtown Disney, and tucked them away when we got home. I almost forgot about them. Thank goodness I happened to come across them while wrapping some gifts:)

Here's the final product. I know you can't see it very well, but trust me, it looks great! And at least this family photo looks a bit more "normal" than the Thanksgiving one:)

I'm Back....

So after doing some investigating I have decided to suck it up and pay my $2+ a month to keep posting to my blog the same easy way I have been doing. I had considered following some multi-step free backdoor way someone else had posted steps to, but as I started following their instructions, I decided that sometimes it does not pay to be a tightwad. As the saying goes, time is money, so I saved myself the hassle and went for it. Perhaps I should put a paypal link on the sidebar to collect donations. Just kidding!

So now that I am back up and running, I will finish the post from Thanksgiving.  I started the writing and saved it, so not sure if it is going to appear before or after this post.  Thank you for reading all the way to the bottom of my rambling. Miss me?

Frustrated Blogger....

Please be patient with me as I figure out how to work around my frustrations with blogger.com.  Evidently they have decided to limit the amount of free photo space, so now want me to pay for it. It seems this is "suddenly" happening to many other bloggers too. I am going to investigate what others are doing before paying, as I am a cheapskate always looking for a bargain. I will be back with photos soon, either here, or at a new site. Stay tuned....

National Adoption Day...

In honor of National Adoption Day today, enjoy this video. May you find your own way to make a difference!

T1D 4 a Day....

I typically only post about my Type I Diabetes a couple times a year, as I don't find it makes for exciting reading material. Not that my other posts do, but I don't want to seem like I'm whining, and I really don't make it a focus of my life. However, since this is once again Diabetes Awareness Month, I found something that I thought would help many of you understand a typical day in the life of a T1 Diabetic.

It's called T1D for a day.  When you sign up, for the following 24 hours you will receive as many as 24 text messages over a 24-hour period that simulate the constant blood sugar testing, insulin injections, and dietary decisions that confront people with T1D. Sounds annoying, huh? Yep, I agree, but it is always in the back of your mind, 24-7. If you participate, be sure and comment back here and let me know how it went.